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The purpose of this study was to describe the presence of uncertainty experienced by heart transplant recipients at one and two year diagnostic follow-up evaluations. Twelve one year and eleven two year transplant recipients completed the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS), prior to and after cardiac catheterization. There was a decrease in uncertainty levels from pre to post-catheterization, for both one and two year recipients, however, findings were not significant. Recipients prior experience with catheterization and the interaction effects of the complete evaluation process or future health status may have affected the subject's uncertainty response. Two year transplant recipients demonstrated significantly higher uncertaintly levels, before and after cardiac catheterization, when compared to one year recipients. These findings lend initial and tentative support to the proposal that uncertainty increases with time post-transplant. The yearly follow-up evaluation may represent an episodic focusing for the transplant recipient on health status.

Differences in cardiovascular/aerobic function in heart transplant patients might be attributed to the rate of corticosteroid withdrawal and/or to skeletal muscle function. This hypothesis was tested among nine male, cardiac transplant recipients. Prednisone dosage was monitored, and isokinetic strength testing was performed at 4 different time periods throughout the first year post-transplantation. Cardiovascular/aerobic measurements were obtained at the fourth time period. Pre-surgery characteristics were obtained from the patient's medical record. Significant Pearson-product moment correlations were only found between muscle function and aerobic function and between pre-surgery characteristics and cardiovascular/aerobic performance. The results of this study show no evidence that rapid reduction of prednisone dosage enhances aerobic function by benefiting skeletal muscle function.